Saturday, October 11, 2014

Today we made our annual trek to Piseco (in the Adirondacks) to hike Panther Mountain! It's a family tradition that I am determined to carry on no matter what our family configuration is! (And the current configuration is almost more than I could ask for!) Today was a great day for a hike! Last year it was cold, foggy, and rainy. Today was partly sunny, mild, and just about perfect for a hike! The kids were so excited to show LC all the highlights of the trail. LC is always showing them new things that he knows a lot about, so they loved being the ones to show him new things this time!Bud was our "leader" and did a great job scouting out the trail (for muddy spots). Thankfully there weren't too many bad spots.

He took his job seriously!

The hike is .6 miles. It's the perfect amount, with plenty of great places to stop for a rest. We come to our favorite resting spots about half way up. The legendary Big Rock and Chair Rock!!For the last three years I've taken the kid's picture on the "chair rock" as close as I can to the same position each year. I think it's so much fun to see them grow from year to year.

2014

2013

(Too wet to stretch out like usual)

2012

We decided we needed to start a chair rock picture series for ourselves too.

Hopefully we don't "grow" for next year's picture!

And of course we have to take a picture on the big rock!

2014

2014

2013

(again, too wet to sit!)

2012

2011

(Could they be any littler?)

We had a great view from the top this year! Thankfully, there is always people at the top willing to take a picture for us.

This one is my favorite!

Bud took this one. We need to give him lessons on how to take straight pictures. Until then, we'll call his work "artistically angled."

This year was nice because we didn't start up the mountain until the afternoon so we were the last ones left at the top and had it to ourselves for quite a while. That was a new experience that made it even more fun. The kids were able to really explore and have fun, without me following behind making sure they weren't being rude or disrespectful to the other people.
Now please prepare yourself for a photo dump. I think they tell the story better than any words!

Trail head

(which requires a boxing stance?)

This tree was uprooted before our trip last year...perhaps another annual picture is in the making